In The Know… (WEEK OF THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT)

A READING FOR YOU…

¹ In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord,
    and in your help how greatly he exults!
² You have given him his heart’s desire,
    and have not withheld the request of his lips.Selah
³ For you meet him with rich blessings;
    you set a crown of fine gold on his head.
⁴ He asked you for life; you gave it to him—
    length of days forever and ever.
⁵ His glory is great through your help;
    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
⁶ You bestow on him blessings forever;
    you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord,
    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

⁸ Your hand will find out all your enemies;
    your right hand will find out those who hate you.
⁹ You will make them like a fiery furnace
    when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
    and fire will consume them.
¹⁰ You will destroy their offspring from the earth,
    and their children from among humankind.
¹¹ If they plan evil against you,
    if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.
¹² For you will put them to flight;
    you will aim at their faces with your bows.

¹³ Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
    We will sing and praise your power.

Today, I want to share with you a story that I hope will help you become aware of your environment. I also hope that this awareness will empower you to be RESOURCEFUL to complete your goal no matter what obstacle is thrown in front of you.

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY THAT HAPPENED TO ME…

If you know me, you are aware that I like volunteering.  Planting trees, picking up highway trash, operating Lionel Trains during Christmas for kids, writing articles for my hometown. I love volunteering so much that I recently joined ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: WHOSE MOTTO IS SERVICE ABOVE SELF.

Well… it was this past summer…

I volunteered to represent the Historical Society located in Hershey, PA at a market held for the community in downtown Hershey PA… I sent an email to the woman managing the community table… She replied and thanked me and complimented me on being so reliable and interested in community affairs.

IT WAS ON… I HAD TO MAKE THIS TABLE AWESOME!!!

I went into the Historical Society Museum on the Wednesday before the event to gather items and prepare my table.

SOME ITEMS I GRABBED:

Magnets…

Yearbooks…

Post-Cards…

Pillows…

A Table Cloth with the non-profit’s organization on it…

I gathered the items together and put them into a Trolley Shed since I was going to pick them up early in the morning Saturday…

OR SO I THOUGHT…

THE TROLLEY SHED…

This was an old waiting station used for a trolley that was once used for public transportation in Hershey in 1904-1946.  IT IS THE SIZE OF A TOOL SHED AND WAS BUILT TO PROTECT THOSE WANTING A RIDE ON THE MACHINE… I WAS TOLD THAT THIS TROLLEY SHED WAS DONATED BY THE HOTEL HERSHEY TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY… so it was placed on the grounds of the museum.

I WAS BEING RESOURCEFUL and locked the items I was going to show the community in it…

Fast forward two days…

I was going to work… I WORK AT HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE WORLD…

My car wouldn’t start… I had to get my Mom to give me a ride to Hershey from Bainbridge in Lancaster County… OOO, BY THE WAY… SHE WAS GOING AWAY FOR THE WEEKEND TO ATTEND A WEDDING IN VA… THIS MEANT AFTER MY WORK SHIFT THAT ENDED AT 11:30 PM I WOULD NOT HAVE A PLACE TO STAY.

IT WAS SUMMER AT HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE WORLD.  TO SAY IT WAS BUSY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. The last thing on my mind was where am I going to stay the night.

My RESOURCEFULNESS kicked in…

I checked my pockets and realized I had the Keys to that locked Trolley Shed…

(YEAH) that’s where i slept…

Those pillows made of my old high school’s class pennants were awesome when it came to time to sleep.

EVEN-THOUGH IT WAS SUMMER, THERE SEEMED TO BE A CHILL IN THE AIR. (THAT TABLECLOTH MADE FOR AN EXCELLENT BLANKET)

I DID NOT CALL OFF OF WORK NOR DID I MISS THAT VOLUNTEERING EVENT.  I was aware of my environment and enacted my RESOURCEFULNESS.

I hope that my story encourages at least one of you to not let things you can’t control worry you… i.e. non-starting car… and empowers you to be resourceful in the things you can control.

YEAH.